Dingell, Markey have lots of DTV questions for everyone

More letters about the DTV transition were sent out by those famous DTV worry …

Say what you will about Representatives John Dingell (D-MI) and Edward Markey (D-MA), they're good at sending out letters containing lots of questions. In fact, on Friday, the dynamic House Energy and Commerce Committee duo sent out worried queries to eleven parties in which they inquired about various loose ends associated with the DTV transition.

All full power television stations are expected to switch to digital on February 17. Dingell/Markey suggest that it's still unclear if the nation is prepared for that great day, and voice concerns that problems will be worse if some TV stations have digital broadcast areas that are different from their old analog ones.

Dingell is the Chair of Energy and Commerce; Markey heads the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The lucky recipients of these missives include the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, ABC, NBC, CBS, and David Rehr, the main dude at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).

FCC Chair Kevin Martin was also on the letter list. The query directed to him indicates that Dingell/Markey didn't get the memo that the DTV trial run in the city of Wilmington, North Carolina on September 8 was a great success. True enough, most Wilmingtonians knew about the transition, but a bunch still couldn't figure out how to upgrade their analog receivers using one of those digital converter set top boxes. To be fair, they probably bought the gadget for their 1963 Magnavox, but many forgot that they had to press that rescan button on Digital Day, or they didn't replace their old TV antenna (or coat hanger).

The number of confused couch potatoes left behind during the Wilmington experience has led some to suggest that quite a few Americans may need some hands-on tech support on or after February 17. To minimize the length and extent of this after-the-fact ordeal, Dingell/Markey have sent Martin a bunch of nudgy, don't-you-think-you-should-be-dealing-with-this type queries. Such as, "What is the Commission doing, or what, specifically, does it intend to do to let viewers, including viewers without ready access to the Internet, know that they may need to obtain a new antenna or adjust an existing antenna to receive over-the-air signals after February 17, 2009?"

Other questions involve figuring out how many full-power stations will offer digital coverage in regions smaller than their analog area. One license in Wilmington changed its digital contour, resulting in over 700 panicky calls to help centers. The Representatives ask Martin what percentage of TV watchers could lose coverage nationally as a result of this sort of snafu? And how will converter box users be able to figure out that this is the problem, assuming it is?

Martin has to fork over answers to these queries by Friday, November 14. Meredith A. Baker of the NTIA received more or less the same letter, with questions focusing on the rescan/antenna/signal area problem. She's got to pony up a response by November 14 too. Ditto for all the TV honchos and Rehr of the NAB.

Of course, they're not legally required to deliver on their answers by said date, or any date, so the closing requests are a little more polite. "To better gauge the extent to which the transition is on track, we respectfully request answers to the questions below," Dingell and Markey's letters conclude.

Matthew Lasar
Matt writes for Ars Technica about media/technology history, intellectual property, the FCC, or the Internet in general. He teaches United States history and politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Emailmatthew.lasar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@matthewlasar